What is Open Science DB? We are a group of students and postdoctoral fellows who make science accessible to all. We achieve this goal by providing the public with an archive of short summaries of current research - translated into layman’s terms.

Who can write summaries that go to our database? Current graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. We welcome senior scientists and faculty members as well.

Is there compensation for writing summaries? No. We are a non-profit organization managed by students and postdoctoral fellows who volunteer their precious time. ​Our organization does not intend to make any revenue from this endeavor.

Is it okay to write summaries of others’ papers? Yes, it is okay as long as the summaries accurately convey the message of and correctly paraphrase the original paper. We prefer the first authors contribute summaries of their own papers to the database, and many first authors have kindly done so for the Medical Research section. But many other first authors can’t be reached because they have graduated, moved to different institutes, or left academia to take other jobs. Also, some first authors are restricted from speaking to the public. Therefore, we ask students and postdoc fellows to summarize others’ research publications.

What research papers can go to Medical Research section? Please refer to our “How it Works” page. Any published peer-reviewed research from any field pertaining to medicine can be added to our Insights and Database.

What research papers can go to the Federal Agency Research section?Please refer to our “How it Works” page. We ask grad students to find and summarize important journal published by scientists at federal agencies such as EPA, CDC, NPS, NOAA, and USDA. If you’d like to participate, please reach out to us.